Imagine you are Albert Einstein. You have become the quintessential example of a scientist. You don’t do physical experiments with test tubes and apparatus, but you do “thought experiments.” These thought experiments have led you to rewrite the physics of Isaac Newton in your special and general relativity theories. You have even laid the groundwork for quantum mechanics. You are a Nobel Laureate and a Princeton professor with great fame and public adoration. The rich and powerful want to be associated with you. Politicians listen to you. Could there be a happier circumstance for someone?
But you haven’t had the smoothest experience in social matters. You and your first wife split. One of your children hasn’t had good mental health. You helped people discover the secrets that led to the building of the atomic bomb, but you realized afterward what that weapon would mean for future humanity. Yes, you have had some disappointment. In addition, you never succeeded in your quest to find a unifying theory that ties together the four fundamental forces of the universe and that also incorporates quantum effects. Plus, even though you opened the door to quantum mechanics, you can’t reconcile yourself to some of its fundamental tenets. Yes, you have had some disappointment.
Everyone encounters disappointment. Some allow themselves to turn disappointment into depression, addiction, and even despair. Others recognize that disappointment is part of living and that every disappointment lies side-by-side with both little and big accomplishments. Einstein couldn’t land a job after he finished his studies and had to take a position as a patent inspector in Bern. While he was at that job and within a single year, he wrote four articles that changed the world of physics and altered the future. Wallowing in the mire of his disappointments wasn’t his way.
You might argue, “Yeah, but the guy was a genius.” Your suggestion is that Einstein could handle his disappointment because of his mental adroitness. In reality, many people handle their disappointment not through genius and the adulation of others, but rather through some faith in self and some practical knowledge that “it ain’t over till it’s over.” Life offers each of us both disappointment and success. We choose whether or not to focus on one rather than on the other.
Like Einstein in his attempt to find a Grand Unified Theory, you might work on your goals without completing them to your satisfaction. So? Einstein worked on his “problem” even while lying on his deathbed. That’s an example of not giving in to disappointment. Disappointments fade to relative insignificance when we devote ourselves to reaching our goals.
But you haven’t had the smoothest experience in social matters. You and your first wife split. One of your children hasn’t had good mental health. You helped people discover the secrets that led to the building of the atomic bomb, but you realized afterward what that weapon would mean for future humanity. Yes, you have had some disappointment. In addition, you never succeeded in your quest to find a unifying theory that ties together the four fundamental forces of the universe and that also incorporates quantum effects. Plus, even though you opened the door to quantum mechanics, you can’t reconcile yourself to some of its fundamental tenets. Yes, you have had some disappointment.
Everyone encounters disappointment. Some allow themselves to turn disappointment into depression, addiction, and even despair. Others recognize that disappointment is part of living and that every disappointment lies side-by-side with both little and big accomplishments. Einstein couldn’t land a job after he finished his studies and had to take a position as a patent inspector in Bern. While he was at that job and within a single year, he wrote four articles that changed the world of physics and altered the future. Wallowing in the mire of his disappointments wasn’t his way.
You might argue, “Yeah, but the guy was a genius.” Your suggestion is that Einstein could handle his disappointment because of his mental adroitness. In reality, many people handle their disappointment not through genius and the adulation of others, but rather through some faith in self and some practical knowledge that “it ain’t over till it’s over.” Life offers each of us both disappointment and success. We choose whether or not to focus on one rather than on the other.
Like Einstein in his attempt to find a Grand Unified Theory, you might work on your goals without completing them to your satisfaction. So? Einstein worked on his “problem” even while lying on his deathbed. That’s an example of not giving in to disappointment. Disappointments fade to relative insignificance when we devote ourselves to reaching our goals.
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